JP6750459B2 - Image forming system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming system.

When a paper jam is detected in the paper conveyance path of the image forming system, the image forming system temporarily interrupts the printing process based on the print job being executed, and the normal paper before the paper jam occurs. A jam process, which is a process for restoring the transportation, is started.

In the jam processing, the image forming system moves the residual paper on the paper transport path to a position where it can be discharged, then stops the paper transport, and displays the position of the jam-caused paper that caused the paper jam on the display. And prompt the user to remove the jammed paper from the paper transport path. Since it is often difficult to mechanically remove jam-caused paper, it is necessary for the user to remove it. In the image forming system, after the jammed paper is removed by the user and the jam processing is completed, the remaining paper stopped at the discharge possible position is re-conveyed and discharged to the discharge tray (“automatic purge”). Called). The sheet discharged to the sheet discharge tray by the automatic purge is treated as a sheet that is not reused, that is, an invalid sheet. Furthermore, if the paper jam does not occur, an image that was to be formed on the jam-induced paper and the automatically purged invalid paper is formed on a new paper (referred to as “recovery printing”). To be done.

When the image forming system has multiple output trays, if the valid paper that is ejected before the paper jam occurs and the invalid paper that is ejected after the jam processing are ejected to different output trays Since the sheets do not overlap, the user can easily distinguish the two.

However, when the image forming system has only one paper discharge tray, or when the plurality of paper discharge trays are provided, the valid paper and the invalid paper must be discharged to one specific paper discharge tray. The valid sheet and the invalid sheet are discharged to the same discharge tray. Therefore, in such a case, the invalid paper discharged after the jam processing and the valid paper discharged before the jam processing may overlap, and the user may not be able to distinguish between the two.

On the other hand, in jam processing, it is effective when the user removes valid paper from the output tray, or when a paper jam occurs at the break between print jobs when there is no valid paper in the output tray. In some cases, it may not be necessary to distinguish between forms and invalid forms.

In this regard, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-242242, the presence or absence of other printed matter on the discharge tray is checked before the next print job is executed, and if there is another printed matter, the partition paper is discharged and the next A technique is disclosed that makes it easy to distinguish printed materials on a paper discharge tray by executing a print job.

However, the technique of Patent Document 1 does not assume that a paper jam will occur, and does not consider automatic purging. Therefore, according to the technique of Patent Document 1, when a paper jam occurs during execution of a print job, the partition paper cannot be discharged before the residual paper in the paper transport path is automatically purged. As a result, if the valid paper discharged before the jam processing is on the output tray, the invalid paper discharged after the jam processing overlaps with the valid paper on the discharge tray, and the user cannot easily distinguish between them. , The invalid paper may not be easily removed.

Further, after the invalid paper is discharged to the discharge tray by the automatic purging, the recovery-printed valid paper is discharged on top of the above-mentioned invalid paper so that the user can easily distinguish the invalid paper from the valid paper. There is also a problem in that invalid paper cannot be easily removed.

JP-A-2002-308517

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to easily distinguish between invalid sheets for automatic purging that are discharged to the discharge tray and valid sheets for recovery printing that are discharged to the discharge tray or valid sheets that have been discharged before jam processing. An image forming system is provided.

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following.

(1) An image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, a sheet conveying path, and a sheet conveying section that conveys the sheet along the sheet conveying path; and the sheet discharged from the sheet conveying path to the outside. If a single paper output tray to be placed, a paper detection unit that detects whether or not paper exists on the paper output tray, and a paper jam is detected in the paper transport path, the paper After the jam-caused paper that caused the jam is removed, another paper that remains in the paper conveyance path is conveyed, and an automatic purge is performed to discharge it to the outside, and the jam-caused paper and the other paper And a control unit for performing recovery printing to form an image that was to be formed on a newly supplied sheet, the control unit including the control unit at the time of starting the automatic purge. When there is paper on the paper tray, the paper conveyance is temporarily stopped after the automatic purge is performed, and after the other paper discharged on the paper discharge tray is removed by the automatic purge, recovery printing is performed. While controlling the discharged paper to be discharged onto the paper discharge tray, if there is no paper in the paper discharge tray at the time of starting the automatic purge, the paper conveyance is not stopped after the automatic purge is performed. An image forming system that partitions the other paper discharged onto the paper discharge tray by the automatic purge and discharges the recovery-printed paper onto the paper discharge tray.

(2) When there is no paper in the paper discharge tray at the time of starting the automatic purge, the control unit sets the recovery-printed paper as the partition and positions it with the other paper on the paper discharge tray. The image forming system according to (1) above, which controls to shift and discharge.

(3) If there is no paper in the paper discharge tray at the time of starting the automatic purging, the controller merges the recovery-printed paper onto the other paper on the paper discharge tray as the partition. The image forming system according to (1) above, wherein the paper is controlled to be ejected after being inserted.

(4) The control unit causes the user to remove the other sheet while the sheet conveyance is temporarily stopped when the sheet is present on the sheet discharge tray at the start of the automatic purge. The image forming system according to any one of (1) to (3), which notifies the number of sheets of the other sheets discharged onto the sheet discharge tray.

(5) An image forming system having a paper feeding device, an image forming device, and a paper discharging device, wherein the paper feeding device includes a paper tray portion for accommodating paper sheets and a paper transport path, and the paper tray portion A sheet feeding section that feeds a sheet to the image forming apparatus through a sheet feeding path, and the sheet discharging apparatus includes a sheet introducing section that introduces the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus, and a sheet feeding path. A sheet transport unit configured to transport the sheet along the sheet transport path; a single sheet discharge tray on which the sheet discharged from the sheet transport path is placed; and a single sheet discharge tray on the sheet discharge tray. A sheet detection unit that detects whether or not a sheet exists, the image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit that forms an image on the sheet, and a sheet conveyance path. If the occurrence of a paper jam is detected in the paper transport unit that is transported along the paper transport path and any of the paper transport paths of the paper feeding device, the image forming device, and the paper discharge device, the cause of the paper jam is the cause of the jam. After the paper was removed, another paper remaining in the paper transport path was transported, and an automatic purge was performed to discharge it to the outside, and it was planned to be formed on the jam-induced paper and the other paper. And a control unit that controls to perform recovery printing for forming an image on a newly supplied sheet, and the control unit of the image forming system is configured to display the image on the sheet discharge tray at the start point of the automatic purge. If there is paper, the paper conveyance is temporarily stopped after the automatic purge is performed, and the recovery-printed paper is removed after the other paper discharged onto the paper discharge tray by the automatic purge is removed. While the paper is controlled to be discharged onto the paper discharge tray, if there is no paper in the paper discharge tray at the start of the automatic purge, the automatic purge is performed without stopping the paper conveyance after the execution of the automatic purge. An image forming system that partitions the other sheet discharged onto the sheet discharge tray by the above and controls so that the recovery-printed sheet is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray.

According to the present invention, while suppressing a decrease in the productivity of the printing process, the user can disable the automatic purging paper discharged to the paper discharge tray and the effective paper by recovery printing discharged to the paper discharge tray. It is possible to easily distinguish from the effective paper discharged before the jam processing. Therefore, the user can easily separate the invalid sheet on the discharge tray from the valid sheet.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a function of a control unit shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a side view showing the vicinity of a paper discharge tray in an enlarged manner when the invalid paper partitioning unit shown in FIG. 3 inserts a slip sheet. FIG. 4 is an enlarged top view showing the vicinity of the paper discharge tray when the invalid paper partitioning unit shown in FIG. 3 shifts the discharge position of the paper discharged to the paper discharge tray. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of a control method of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment. FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 7.

An embodiment of an image forming system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are used for the same members. Further, the dimensional ratios in the drawings are exaggerated for convenience of description, and may differ from the actual ratios.

(First embodiment)
1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG.

<Structure of Image Forming Apparatus (Image Forming System) 100>
The image forming apparatus 100 reads an image from a document and forms (prints) the read image on a sheet. Further, the image forming apparatus 100 receives print data and print setting data in a PDL (Page Description Language) format from an external client terminal via a network, and forms an image on a sheet based on these. The client terminal is, for example, a personal computer, a tablet terminal, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the image forming apparatus 100 includes an image reading unit 110, an image forming unit 120, a paper feeding unit 130, a paper transporting unit 140, a fixing unit 150, a paper discharging unit 160, an operating unit 170, and communication. It has a section 180 and a control section 190. These components are connected to each other via an internal bus 101 so that they can communicate with each other.

<Image reading unit 110>
The image reading unit 110 reads an image of a document and generates print image data. The image reading unit 110 has a light source, a reading surface, an optical system, and an image sensor. The light emitted from the light source including the light emitting element is applied to the document placed on the reading surface, and the reflected light is imaged on the image pickup element moved to the reading position through the optical system. The image sensor generates an electric signal according to the intensity of reflected light from the original. The generated electric signal is converted from an analog signal to a digital signal, subjected to various kinds of image processing, and transmitted to the image forming unit 120 as print image data.

<Image forming unit 120>
The image forming unit 120 forms a toner image by an electrophotographic process and transfers the toner image onto a sheet. In addition, although an example in which the electrophotographic process is applied is described in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and other printing methods such as an inkjet method and a thermal sublimation method may be applied.

The image forming unit 120 includes a photoconductor drum (Y, M, C, K) and an intermediate transfer belt as an image carrier. The intermediate transfer belt is an endless belt, is wound by a plurality of rollers, and is movably supported. The toner images of the respective colors formed on the photoconductor drums (Y, M, C, K) are sequentially transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt, and the toner images (color images) in which the layers of the respective colors (Y, M, C, K) are superimposed. Image) is formed on the intermediate transfer belt. Then, by applying a bias having a polarity opposite to that of the toner to the transfer roller, the toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt is transferred onto the paper.

<Paper unit 130>
The paper feed unit 130 supplies the paper to the paper transport unit 140. The paper feed unit 130 includes a plurality of paper trays and a plurality of rollers including a paper feed roller and a feed roller provided for each paper tray. Cut sheets S are stored in advance in each paper tray for each type of paper (paper size, paper type, color, basis weight, etc.), and the cut sheets S are directed toward the paper transport unit 140 one by one from the top. Be transported.

<Paper transport unit 140>
The paper transport unit 140 transports paper in the image forming apparatus 100. The paper transport unit 140 includes a paper transport path 141 and a plurality of transport rollers 142. The sheet transport path 141 includes a guide member that guides the sheet to be transported, and a plurality of transport rollers 142 are arranged in pairs along the guide member. Further, each of the transport rollers 142 includes a drive unit (not shown), and transports the paper along the paper transport path 141 according to an instruction from the control unit 190.

The paper transport unit 140 can also take in paper from an external paper feeding device or a manual feed tray through the paper introducing unit 143. The paper transport unit 140 also includes a paper reversing unit and a circulation path unit. The paper reversing unit reverses the front and back of the paper that has passed through the fixing unit 150, and then conveys the paper to the paper ejection unit 160. In addition, the circulation path unit reverses the front and back of the sheet that has passed through the fixing unit 150, and then re-feeds the sheet to the image forming unit 120.

Further, paper detection sensors (not shown) are arranged at a plurality of locations on the paper transport path 141. The sheet detection sensor is, for example, a reflection type or transmission type optical sensor, and detects the sheet passing on the sheet conveyance path 141. The output signal of the paper detection sensor is transmitted to the control unit 190.

<Fixing unit 150>
The fixing unit 150 heats the toner image transferred on the paper to fix the toner image on the paper. For example, the fixing unit 150 applies heat and pressure at the fixing nip portion by pressing a pressure member (for example, a pressure roller) to a heating member (for example, a heating roller) that is a heat source to melt the toner image on the paper. Fix it.

<Paper discharge section 160>
The paper discharge unit 160 discharges the paper sheet fixed by the fixing unit 150 to the outside of the image forming apparatus 100. The paper discharge unit 160 is located at one end of the paper transport path 141 and has a paper discharge roller 161, a paper discharge tray 162, a paper detection unit 163, and an offset paper discharge mechanism 164.

The paper discharge roller 161 is a roller for discharging the paper on the paper transport path 141 to the paper discharge tray 162. In the present embodiment, the paper discharge tray 162 is a single paper tray on which the paper discharged from the paper transport path 141 is placed.

The paper detection unit 163 detects the paper existing on the paper discharge tray 162. The paper detection unit 163 has, for example, a reflective or transmissive optical sensor.

The offset paper ejection mechanism 164 is a mechanism for adjusting the position of the paper ejection tray 162 in the width direction (Y direction in FIG. 1) when the paper is ejected to the paper ejection tray 162. The amount that can be shifted by the offset discharge mechanism 164 is, for example, about 20 to 40 mm.

<Operation unit 170>
The operation unit 170 receives a user instruction and transmits it to the control unit 190. The operation unit 170 also displays warnings and messages from the control unit 190 on the display, and outputs voices and sounds from speakers.

The operation unit 170 has, for example, a touch panel display, a speaker, various switches, buttons, a numeric keypad, operation keys, and the like.

<Communication unit 180>
The communication unit 180 is an interface for communicating with the above-described sheet feeding device, client terminal, or the like connected to the image forming apparatus 100 via a network. The communication unit 180 receives a print job from the user's client terminal.

<Control unit 190>
The control unit 190 controls the image reading unit 110, the image forming unit 120, the paper feeding unit 130, the paper transporting unit 140, the fixing unit 150, the paper discharging unit 160, the operating unit 170, and the communication unit 180.

The control unit 190 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) as an arithmetic processing unit (not shown), a RAM (Random Access Memory) as a storage unit (not shown), and a ROM (Read Only Memory). The control unit 190 has a hard disk drive or a flash memory as a large-capacity storage device (not shown).

The control unit 190 executes the control program to control the image reading unit 110, the image forming unit 120, the paper feeding unit 130, the paper transporting unit 140, the fixing unit 150, the paper discharging unit 160, the operating unit 170, and the communication unit 180. It outputs instructions to each and realizes various functions. By executing the control program, the image forming apparatus 100 allows the user to easily distinguish between invalid paper and valid paper on the discharge tray 162 and easily remove invalid paper, in addition to functions such as automatic purge and recovery printing. It has a function to do so. When the occurrence of a paper jam is detected in the paper transport path 141, the automatic purge transports the remaining paper in the paper transport path 141 after removing the jammed paper that is the cause of the paper jam. And discharge it to the outside. In the recovery printing, the image that was to be formed on the jam-caused paper and the other paper is formed on the newly supplied paper. It should be noted that since the techniques of automatic purge and recovery printing are known techniques, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the printing process, the control unit 190 detects the occurrence of a paper jam on the paper transport path 141 based on the detection results of the plurality of paper detection sensors on the paper transport path 141, and detects the position of the jam-caused paper and the jam occurrence information. Is stored in the storage unit or the storage device. The control unit 190 and the paper detection sensor function as a jam detection unit.

In addition, after the jam processing, the arithmetic processing unit acquires the state of the residual paper (for example, the position of the residual paper and the total number of sheets) based on the detection results of the plurality of paper detection sensors on the paper transport path 141, and the storage unit. Alternatively, it is stored in the storage device. In addition to the state of the remaining paper, the storage unit or the storage device stores the control program, information about the paper stored in the paper feed unit 130, and the like.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, a function for allowing the user to easily distinguish the invalid sheet and the valid sheet on the discharge tray 162 and to easily remove the invalid sheet. Will be described. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating the functions of the control unit 190 shown in FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view showing the vicinity of the paper discharge tray 162 when the invalid paper partition section 194 shown in FIG. 3 inserts a slip sheet. FIG. 5 is an enlarged top view showing the vicinity of the paper discharge tray 162 when the invalid paper partition section 194 shown in FIG. 3 shifts the discharge position of the paper discharged to the paper discharge tray 162.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 190 includes a purge discharge number notification unit 191, an invalid paper removal guide unit 192, an invalid paper removal determination unit 193, and an invalid paper partition unit 194 as functional units. Each of these functional units is realized by the arithmetic processing unit of the control unit 190 executing a control program.

If there is paper in the paper discharge tray 162 at the start of automatic purging, the purge discharged sheet number notification unit 191, the invalid paper removal guide unit 192, and the invalid paper removal determination unit 193 notify the user of the invalid paper discharged by the automatic purge. Used to get rid of. On the other hand, the invalid sheet partition section 194 is used when there is no valid sheet in the sheet discharge tray 162 at the start of the automatic purge. Hereinafter, each of the above functional units will be described in order.

<Purge discharge number notification unit 191>
The purge discharge number notification unit 191 notifies the invalid paper removal guide unit 192 of the number of sheets discharged by the automatic purge. The purge discharge number notification unit 191 counts the number of remaining sheets that have passed during the automatic purge on the sheet detection sensor installed in the sheet conveyance path 141 near the sheet discharge unit 160, for example, and thereby the sheet is discharged by the automatic purge. The number of sheets discharged onto the tray 162 is acquired.

<Invalid paper removal guidance unit 192>
The invalid sheet removal guide section 192 prompts the user to remove the above-mentioned number of invalid sheets notified from the purge discharge number notification section 191 from the sheet discharge tray 162. For example, the invalid paper removal guidance unit 192 causes the display of the operation unit 170 to display a message such as "Please remove up to * sheets of paper from the top of the paper ejection tray." Alternatively, the invalid paper removal guide unit 192 can notify the user of the above message by voice from the speaker of the operation unit 170.

<Invalid paper removal determination unit 193>
The invalid paper removal determination unit 193 determines whether or not the invalid paper has been removed from the paper discharge tray 162. For example, the invalid paper removal determination unit 193 displays a screen for confirming that the removal of the invalid paper is completed on the display of the operation unit 170, and determines that the invalid paper has been removed when the user presses the “confirm” button. To do. Also, the invalid paper removal determination unit 193 activates recovery printing when the user presses the “confirm” button. On the other hand, the invalid paper removal determination unit 193 determines that the invalid paper has not been removed until the user presses the “confirm” button.

Alternatively, the invalid paper removal determination unit 193 determines that the invalid paper has been removed from the paper discharge tray 162 when receiving an instruction from the user to restart paper transport, and receives an instruction to restart paper transport. Until, it is determined that the invalid paper has not been removed. For example, the invalid paper removal determination unit 193 displays a screen for confirming the start of recovery printing on the display of the operation unit 170, and accepts an instruction to restart paper transportation when the user presses the “confirm” button. to decide. Further, the invalid paper removal determination unit 193 activates recovery printing when the user presses the “confirm” button. On the other hand, the invalid paper removal determination unit 193 determines that the invalid paper has not been removed until the user presses the “confirm” button.

<Invalid paper partition section 194>
The invalid sheet partitioning unit 194 separates the invalid sheet discharged to the sheet discharge tray 162 by the automatic purge from the valid sheet discharged to the sheet discharge tray 162 by the recovery printing. In the following, as a method for partitioning the invalid sheet and the valid sheet, for example, the method shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 will be described as an example, but the method for partitioning the invalid sheet and the valid sheet is not limited thereto. There is no such thing.

The first method is inserting a slip sheet. As shown in FIG. 4, the invalid sheet partition section 194 discharges the slip sheet SD on at least one invalid sheet SP discharged to the sheet discharge tray 162 by the automatic purge. After that, the control unit 190 discharges at least one effective sheet SR onto the slip sheet SD by recovery printing.

The slip sheet SD inserted between the invalid sheet SP and the valid sheet SR is removed by the user together with the invalid sheet SP at the end of the print job. The interleaf paper SD is, for example, a paper having a different form (paper size, color, paper orientation, paper type, etc.) from the invalid paper SP, and can be fed from the paper feed unit 130, the paper feed device, or the manual feed tray.

Therefore, the user can easily distinguish the invalid sheet SP and the valid sheet SR by the interleaf sheet SD inserted between the invalid sheet SP and the valid sheet SR.

The second method is shifting the discharge position. As shown in FIG. 5, the invalid sheet partitioning unit 194 controls the offset sheet discharge mechanism 164 to discharge by recovery printing at least one invalid sheet SP (gray) position discharged by automatic purging. The position of at least one effective sheet SR (white) to be removed is shifted. For example, with respect to the center position of the paper discharge tray 162 in the width direction (Y direction), the invalid paper SP is discharged so that the central portion thereof is located above the paper surface of the paper discharge tray 162, and the central portion of the valid paper SR is discharged. Can be discharged to a position below the paper surface of the paper discharge tray 162. The invalid paper sheet SP is removed by the user at the end of the print job.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, depending on the paper sizes of the invalid paper SP and the valid paper SR and the size of the area in which the paper can be placed on the discharge tray 162, the invalid paper SP and the valid paper SR may be different. Overlapping parts may occur. It is preferable that the overlap between the valid sheet SR and the invalid sheet SP is small from the viewpoint of easy distinction by the user. The discharge position of the invalid sheet SP and the discharge position of the valid sheet SR are determined so that at least the entire uppermost sheet of the invalid sheet SP is not covered by the valid sheet SR.

Therefore, the user can easily distinguish the invalid sheet SP and the valid sheet SR by the difference in the relative discharge positions of the invalid sheet SP and the valid sheet SR.

<Control Method of Image Forming Apparatus 100>
Hereinafter, an example of the control method of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the processing procedure of the control method of the image forming apparatus 100 shown in FIG. The control method of the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 is realized by the arithmetic processing unit of the control unit 190 executing a control program.

First, the printing process is started (step S101). The control unit 190 receives a print job from the user's client terminal or the like, forms an image on the paper S based on the print job, and discharges the paper S to the paper discharge tray 162.

When the printing process is started, it is determined in parallel with the execution of the printing process whether a paper jam is detected (step S102). The control unit 190 determines whether or not a paper jam is detected at at least one of the positions of the paper conveyance path 141 based on the detection results of the plurality of paper detection sensors of the paper conveyance path 141. When the paper jam is not detected (step S102: NO), the control process ends after the print process of the print job is completed (END).

On the other hand, when a paper jam is detected (step S102: YES), the print process of the print job is interrupted and the jam process is executed (step S103). The control unit 190 moves the residual paper to a predetermined position suitable for automatic purging according to the position of the residual paper in the paper transport path 141, and then stops the paper transport. Further, the control unit 190 causes the display of the operation unit 170 to display the position of the jam-caused paper and the removal method based on the jam occurrence information, and prompts the user to remove the jam-caused paper.

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the paper caused by the jam is the paper S2, and the papers S1 and S3 remain in the paper transport path 141. The control unit 190 stops the sheet conveyance after moving the residual sheets S1 and S3 to predetermined positions suitable for automatic purging. Further, the control unit 190 causes the display of the operation unit 170 to display a message indicating the position of the jam-caused paper S2 and a removal method based on the jam occurrence information, and prompts the user to remove the jam-caused paper S2. The user removes the jam-induced paper S2 according to the message. The fact that the jammed paper S2 has been removed and the jam processing has been completed can be determined from changes in the detection signal of the paper detection sensor.

Next, automatic purge is started (step S104). The control unit 190 starts automatic purging after confirming that the jammed paper S2 has been removed from the paper conveyance path 141 based on the detection result of the paper detection sensor of the paper conveyance path 141.

Next, it is determined whether or not there is a sheet on the sheet discharge tray 162 (step S105). The control unit 190 determines, based on the detection result of the paper detection unit 163, whether or not there is a paper on the paper discharge tray 162 at the start of the automatic purge.

When there is a sheet on the discharge tray 162 (step S105: YES), the control unit 190 starts carrying the remaining sheets S1 and S3 (step 106). The sheet transport unit 140 transports the residual sheets S1 and S3 located at the predetermined position on the sheet transport path 141 toward the sheet discharge unit 160. The paper discharge unit 160 discharges the conveyed residual paper S1 and S3 onto the paper discharge tray 162. The sheets S1 and S3 discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 162 are treated as invalid sheets S1 and S3. When the residual sheets S1 and S3 are discharged to the sheet discharge tray 162, they may be displaced with respect to the sheet on the sheet discharge tray 162 and discharged. The paper on the paper discharge tray 162 may be discharged valid paper. When the paper on the paper discharge tray 162 is a valid paper, the discharge position of the invalid paper shifts from the discharge position of the valid paper, so that it becomes easy to grasp (distinguish) the number of papers to be removed as the invalid paper. ..

Next, it is determined whether the discharge of all the remaining sheets S1 and S3 has been completed (step S107). The control unit 190 determines the total number of remaining sheets on the sheet conveying path 141 at the start of automatic purging and the number of remaining sheets that have passed the sheet detection sensor arranged on the sheet conveying path 141 near the sheet discharge section 160. Based on this, it is determined whether the discharge of the remaining sheets S1 and S3 has been completed. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the total number of remaining sheets S1 and S3 on the sheet conveyance path 141 at the start of automatic purge is two.

When the discharge of all the residual papers S1 and S3 is not completed (step S107: NO), the paper conveyance is continued until the discharge of all the residual papers S1 and S3 is completed.

On the other hand, when the discharge of all the remaining sheets S1 and S3 is completed (step S107: YES), the sheet conveyance is stopped (step 108). The control unit 190 stops the sheet conveyance in order to allow the user to remove the invalid sheets S1 and S3 discharged to the sheet discharge tray 162. When valid paper SA is present on the discharge tray 162 at the start of automatic purging, invalid paper S1 and S3 due to automatic purge and valid paper due to recovery printing are sequentially stacked on valid paper SA, and valid paper SA is invalid. It creates a stack of paper mixed with the paper. The work of removing only the invalid sheets S1 and S3 from such a sheet bundle becomes complicated. Therefore, processing efficiency is improved if a procedure is performed in which the invalid printing sheets S1 and S3 that have been discharged onto the discharge tray 162 on the discharged valid paper sheets SA are removed and then the recovery printing is performed.

The control unit 190 instructs the user to remove the invalid sheets S1 and S3 from the discharge tray 162 (step 109). The purge discharge number notification unit 191 acquires the number of sheets discharged by the automatic purge and notifies the invalid sheet removal guide unit 192. For example, when the number of sheets notified from the purge discharge number notification unit 191 is two, the invalid sheet removal guide unit 192 prompts the user to remove two sheets from the stack of sheets on the sheet discharge tray 162. .. The invalid paper removal guide unit 192 causes the display of the operation unit 170 to display a message such as "Please remove up to two papers from the top of the paper ejection tray." The user removes the second invalid sheet S1 and S3 from the top of the sheet discharge tray 162 according to the instruction of the message.

Next, it is determined whether or not the invalid papers S1 and S3 have been removed from the paper discharge tray 162 (step 110). The invalid paper removal determination unit 193 displays, for example, a screen for confirming that the removal of the invalid papers S1 and S3 is completed on the display of the operation unit 170, and when the user presses the “confirm” button, the invalid paper S1. It is determined that S3 has been removed. When it is not determined that the invalid sheets S1 and S3 have been removed from the sheet discharge tray 162 (step S110: NO), the process waits until the invalid sheets S1 and S3 are removed from the sheet discharge tray 162.

On the other hand, when the user presses the “confirm” button and it is determined that the invalid sheets S1 and S3 have been removed from the paper ejection tray 162 (step S110: YES), the control unit 190 executes recovery printing (step 111). .. If the paper jam does not occur, the control unit 190 uses the images that were to be formed on the jam-induced paper S2 and the automatically purged invalid papers S1 and S3 as a new paper supplied from the paper supply unit 130. The sheet is formed and discharged as a valid sheet to the sheet discharge tray 162. Then, after the recovery printing is completed, the control unit 190 ends the control processing (END).

On the other hand, when there is no paper in the paper discharge tray 162 (step S105: NO), the control unit 190 starts the conveyance of the residual paper S1 and S3 (step 112). The sheet transport unit 140 transports the residual sheets S1 and S3 located at the predetermined position on the sheet transport path 141 toward the sheet discharge unit 160. The paper discharge unit 160 discharges the conveyed residual paper S1 and S3 onto the paper discharge tray 162. The sheets S1 and S3 discharged onto the sheet discharge tray 162 are treated as invalid sheets S1 and S3.

Next, it is determined whether the discharge of all the remaining sheets S1 and S3 has been completed (step S113). The control unit 190 determines the total number of remaining sheets on the sheet conveying path 141 at the start of automatic purging and the number of remaining sheets that have passed the sheet detection sensor arranged on the sheet conveying path 141 near the sheet discharge section 160. Based on this, it is determined whether the discharge of the remaining sheets S1 and S3 has been completed.

If the discharge of all the residual sheets S1 and S3 has not been completed (step S113: NO), the sheet conveyance is continued until the discharge of all the residual sheets S1 and S3 is completed. On the other hand, when the discharge of all the remaining sheets S1 and S3 is completed (step S113: YES), the sheet partitioning process is executed (step S114). The invalid sheet partitioning unit 194 and the invalid sheets S1 and S3 on the sheet discharge tray 162 and the valid sheets discharged by the recovery printing by the above-described insertion of the slip sheet or shift of the discharge position (shift of the sheet) or other method. Performs processing to partition the space between and. When there is no sheet in the discharge tray 162 at the start of the automatic purge, after the automatic purge is completed, the user's work of removing the invalid sheets S1 and S3 on the discharge tray 162 is omitted, and the sheet partitioning process is executed. .. As a result, it is possible to immediately shift to the execution of recovery printing after the completion of the automatic purge without stopping the sheet conveyance.

Next, recovery printing is executed (step S115). If the paper jam does not occur, the control unit 190 uses the images that were to be formed on the jam-induced paper S2 and the automatically purged invalid papers S1 and S3 as a new paper supplied from the paper supply unit 130. The sheet is formed and discharged as an effective sheet to the sheet discharge tray 162.

Next, a process of removing the invalid sheets S1 and S3 is executed (step S116). The control unit 190 outputs a message prompting confirmation of the paper on the paper discharge tray 162 at the end of the print job. For example, the control unit 190 displays, on the display of the operation unit 170, a message that the paper between the paper discharge tray 162 and the interleaf is invalid in the paper stack on the paper discharge tray 162 and needs to be removed. Display it. Then, the control unit 190 ends the control processing (end).

As described above, according to the control method shown in FIG. 6, when the paper is present in the paper ejection tray 162 at the time of starting the automatic purging, the user is informed of the number of invalid papers to be removed from the paper ejection tray 162 after the completion of the automatic purging. Notify the user and let the user remove the invalid paper on the paper discharge tray 162. Therefore, it is possible to easily remove only the invalid paper from the paper discharge tray 162 and reliably start the recovery printing. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the invalid sheets from being mixed with the valid sheets discharged to the sheet discharge tray 162 by the recovery printing.

On the other hand, when there is no valid paper in the paper discharge tray 162 at the time of starting the automatic purge, the partitioning process of the paper is executed after the automatic purge is completed, and the recovery printing is immediately started without stopping the paper conveyance. Therefore, it is possible to omit the work for the user to remove the invalid paper from the paper discharge tray 162 by stopping the paper conveyance, and it is possible to accelerate the start of recovery printing. Therefore, the productivity of the printing process can be improved. Further, after the print job is completed, the user can easily distinguish the valid sheet from the invalid sheet by the partition, and the invalid sheet can be easily removed from the discharge tray 162.

As described above, the control unit 190 switches the processing from the completion of the automatic purging to the start of the recovery printing depending on whether or not there is a sheet on the discharge tray 162 at the time of starting the automatic purging. ..

Therefore, according to the image forming apparatus 100 of this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. While suppressing the decrease in the productivity of the printing process, the user can check whether the automatic purge invalid paper discharged to the paper discharge tray 162 and the effective paper by recovery printing discharged to the paper discharge tray 162 or before the jam processing. The discharged effective paper can be easily distinguished. As a result, the user can easily separate the invalid paper on the discharge tray 162 from the valid paper.

(Second embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the case where the paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray of the image forming apparatus has been described. In the second embodiment, an image forming system having a paper feeding device, an image forming device, and a paper discharging device will be described in which a paper is discharged to a paper discharging tray of the paper discharging device.

<Structure of image forming system 200>
7 is a schematic sectional view illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the configuration of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 7. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the image forming system 200 according to the present embodiment includes a sheet feeding device 210, an image forming device 220, and a sheet discharging device 230 that are connected in series along the X direction.

<Paper feeder 210>
The paper feeding device 210 supplies paper to the image forming device 220 according to an instruction from the image forming device 220. The paper feeding device 210 includes a paper tray unit 211, a paper transport unit 112, a communication unit 213, and a control unit 214. These components are connected to each other via an internal bus 201 so that they can communicate with each other.

The paper tray unit 211 has a plurality of paper trays and can accommodate a large amount of paper having different forms such as paper size, paper type, color, thickness, and basis weight. In the present embodiment, the paper tray unit 211 includes, for example, three paper trays 211A, 211B, and 211C, and the three paper trays store sheets of different forms.

The sheet transport unit 112 transports the sheets on the sheet trays 211A, 211B, and 211C to the sheet discharge port connected to the image forming apparatus 220.

The communication unit 213 is communicably connected to the image forming apparatus 220 via the communication line 204, and transmits and receives data between the sheet feeding apparatus 210 and the image forming apparatus 220.

The control unit 214 controls the paper tray unit 211, the paper transport unit 212, and the communication unit 213 according to an instruction from the control unit 229 of the image forming apparatus 220.

<Image forming device 220>
The image forming apparatus 220 includes an image reading unit 221, an image forming unit 222, a paper feeding unit 223, a paper transporting unit 224, a fixing unit 225, a paper discharging unit 226, an operating unit 227, a communication unit 228, and a control unit 229. These constituent elements are communicably connected to each other by an internal bus 202. To avoid duplication of description, detailed description of the same configuration as the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment will be omitted.

The control unit 229 controls each part of the image forming apparatus 220, and also controls the paper feeding device 210 and the paper discharging device 230.

<Paper discharge device 230>
The paper discharge device 230 includes a paper introduction unit 231, a paper transport unit 232, a paper discharge unit 233, a paper discharge tray 234, a paper detection unit 235, an offset paper discharge mechanism 236, a communication unit 237, and a control unit 238. These components are connected to each other via an internal bus 203 so that they can communicate with each other.

The sheet introduction unit 231 introduces the sheet ejected from the sheet ejection unit 226 of the image forming apparatus 220 into the sheet ejection device 230.

The paper carrying unit 232 carries the paper introduced into the paper introducing unit 231 to the paper discharging unit 233. The paper transport unit 232 includes a paper transport path and a plurality of transport rollers. The paper transport unit 232 can also include a reversing mechanism for reversing the front and back of the paper introduced into the paper introducing unit 231, and transporting the paper to the paper discharge unit 233.

The paper ejection tray 234 is a single paper tray on which a large amount of paper ejected from the paper conveyance path can be placed. Further, the paper detection unit 235 detects the paper existing on the paper discharge tray 234. The paper detection unit 235 has, for example, a reflection type or transmission type optical sensor.

The offset sheet discharge mechanism 236 is a mechanism for adjusting the position of the sheet discharge tray 234 in the width direction (Y direction in FIG. 7) when the sheet is discharged to the sheet discharge tray 234. The amount that can be shifted by the offset discharge mechanism 236 is, for example, about 20 to 40 mm.

The communication unit 237 is communicably connected to the image forming apparatus 220 through the communication line 204, and transmits and receives data between the paper discharge device 230 and the image forming apparatus 220.

The control unit 238 controls the paper introduction unit 231, the paper conveyance unit 232, the paper ejection unit 233, the paper detection unit 235, the offset paper ejection mechanism 236, and the communication unit 237 according to the instruction of the control unit 229 of the image forming apparatus 220.

The paper discharge device 230 can also have a PI (Post Inserter) unit. The PI unit is connected to the paper conveyance path of the paper conveyance unit 232 between the paper introduction unit 231 and the paper ejection unit 233, and can supply interleaf paper to the paper ejection unit 233. The control unit 229 selects an appropriate one of the paper feeding device 210 and the PI unit in consideration of the configuration conditions of the paper feeding device 210 and the PI unit and the condition regarding the paper, and supplies the paper as the interleaving paper.

<Operation of Image Forming System 200>
In this embodiment, a sheet is fed from the sheet feeding device 210 to the image forming apparatus 220, and the sheet printed by the image forming apparatus 220 or the sheet discharged by the automatic purge after the jam processing is performed by the sheet discharging device 230. And is discharged to the paper discharge tray 234. The sheet feeding device 210 can continuously feed sheets from the large-capacity sheet trays 211A to 211C to the image forming apparatus 220. Further, the paper discharge tray 234 of the paper discharge device 230 can place a large amount of paper discharged from the image forming device 220. Therefore, such an image forming system 200 is suitable for use in printing a large amount of paper at high speed.

<Control Method of Image Forming System 200>
In the image forming system 200 according to the present exemplary embodiment, the image forming apparatus 220 includes a sheet discharge tray 234 instead of the sheet discharge tray, and the sheet is discharged to the sheet discharge tray 234 according to the first exemplary embodiment. Different from Therefore, although the control method of the image forming system 200 is different from the control method of the image forming apparatus 100 of the first embodiment in the process of controlling the paper to be ejected to the paper ejection tray 234, the control process is generally the same. The procedure is similar to that of the flowchart shown in FIG. Therefore, in the following, a detailed description of the processing procedure of the control method of the image forming system 200 will be omitted, and an outline thereof will be described.

When the printing process is started, the image forming system 200 receives a print job from a user's client terminal or the like, and forms an image on the paper S supplied from the paper feeder 210 based on the print job. It is determined whether or not a paper jam has been detected in the paper transport path of the paper transport unit 224. If it is determined that a paper jam has been detected, a jam process is executed. FIG. 7 exemplifies a case where a paper jam occurs due to the jam-induced paper S2, the papers S1, S3, and S4 remain in the paper transport path of the paper transport unit 224, and the effective paper SA exists on the paper discharge tray 234. Has been done. In this case, the residual papers S1, S3, S4 are discharged to the paper discharge tray 234 by automatic purging and become invalid papers. The invalid sheets S1, S3, S4 are stacked on the valid sheet SA discharged before the jam processing.

If paper is present in the paper discharge tray 234 at the start of the automatic purge, the paper conveyance is stopped after the automatic purge is completed, the user is notified of the number of invalid paper sheets to be removed from the paper discharge tray 234, Allow the user to remove the dead paper on 234. Therefore, it is possible to easily remove only the invalid paper from the paper discharge tray 234 and surely start the recovery printing. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the invalid sheets from being mixed with the valid sheets discharged to the sheet discharge tray 234 by the recovery printing.

On the other hand, when there is no valid paper in the paper discharge tray 234 at the time of starting the automatic purge, after the completion of the automatic purge, the paper partitioning process is executed and the recovery printing is immediately started. Therefore, it is possible to omit the work for the user to remove the invalid paper from the paper discharge tray 234 by stopping the paper conveyance, and the recovery printing can be started earlier. Therefore, the productivity of the printing process can be improved. Further, after the print job is completed, the user can easily distinguish the valid sheet and the invalid sheet by the partition, and the invalid sheet can be easily removed from the sheet discharge tray 234.

Note that, in the above example, in order to simplify the description, it is assumed that a paper jam occurs in the paper transport path of the image forming apparatus 220. However, the present invention is not limited to such a case. Even when a paper jam occurs in the paper transport path of the paper feed device or the paper ejection device, the occurrence of a paper jam should be detected based on the detection result of the paper detection sensor located in the paper transport path of these devices. Is also possible.

As described above, the control unit 229 switches the processing from the completion of the automatic purge to the start of the recovery printing depending on whether or not there is a sheet on the discharge tray 234 at the time of starting the automatic purge. ..

Therefore, according to the image forming system 200 of the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. While suppressing the decrease in the productivity of the printing process, the user can perform the automatic purge invalid paper discharged to the paper discharge tray 234 and the valid paper by recovery printing discharged to the paper discharge tray 234 or before the jam processing. The discharged effective paper can be easily distinguished. As a result, the user can easily separate the invalid paper on the discharge tray 234 from the valid paper.

As described above, the image forming system of the present invention has been described in the embodiment. However, it goes without saying that the present invention can be appropriately added, modified, and omitted by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technical idea.

For example, in the above-described first and second embodiments, the case where the image forming apparatus or the paper discharge device has a single paper discharge tray has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a case. Even when the image forming apparatus or the paper discharge device has a plurality of paper discharge trays, the present invention can be applied to the case where the valid paper and the invalid paper must be discharged to one specific paper discharge tray.

Further, the control program may be provided by a computer-readable recording medium such as a USB memory, a flexible disk, or a CD-ROM, or may be provided online via a network such as the Internet. In this case, the program recorded in the computer-readable recording medium is usually transferred to and stored in the storage unit or the storage device. Further, this control program may be provided as, for example, independent application software, or may be incorporated into the software of each device as one function of the image forming device.

100 image forming apparatus,
110 image reading unit,
120 image forming unit,
130 paper feeder,
140 paper transport section,
141 paper transport path,
150 fixing unit,
160 paper output section,
162 output tray,
163 paper detection unit,
164 offset paper ejection mechanism,
170 Operation unit,
180 Communications department,
190 control unit,
200 image forming system,
210 paper feeder,
220 image forming apparatus,
230 paper discharge device,
234 Output tray,
235 Paper detector,
236 Offset paper ejection mechanism.

Claims (5)

An image forming unit that forms an image on paper,
A paper transport unit that has a paper transport path and transports the paper along the paper transport path;
A single paper ejection tray on which the paper ejected from the paper conveyance path is placed;
A paper detection unit for detecting whether or not paper exists on the paper discharge tray,
When the occurrence of a paper jam is detected in the paper transport path, the jammed paper that causes the paper jam is removed, and then another sheet remaining in the paper transport path is transported to the outside. A control unit that performs automatic purging to eject and controls recovery printing to form an image that was to be formed on the jam-caused paper and the other paper on a newly supplied paper. Have,
The control unit is
When paper is present on the paper discharge tray at the start of the automatic purge, the paper conveyance is temporarily stopped after the automatic purge is performed, and the other paper discharged onto the paper discharge tray by the automatic purge. While the recovery-printed paper is controlled to be ejected onto the paper ejection tray after the paper is removed,
If no paper is present in the paper discharge tray at the start of the automatic purge, the other paper discharged to the paper discharge tray by the automatic purge is not stopped without stopping the paper conveyance after the execution of the automatic purge. An image forming system that controls so that a sheet printed by partitioning and recovery printing is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray. The control unit is
When there is no paper in the paper discharge tray at the start of the automatic purging, the recovery-printed paper as the partition is controlled so as to be displaced from the other paper on the paper discharge tray and discharged. The image forming system according to claim 1. The control unit is
If there is no paper in the paper discharge tray at the start of the automatic purging, the recovery-printed paper is discharged as a partition after inserting a slip sheet on the other paper on the paper discharge tray. The image forming system according to claim 1, which is controlled. The control unit is
If there is paper on the paper ejection tray at the time of the start of the automatic purging, the paper is ejected onto the paper ejection tray to allow the user to remove the other paper while the paper conveyance is temporarily stopped. The image forming system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the number of sheets of the other printed sheets is notified. An image forming system having a paper feeding device, an image forming device, and a paper discharging device,
The paper feeding device is
A paper tray part for storing paper,
A sheet transporting path, and a sheet transporting section for feeding a sheet from the sheet tray section to the image forming apparatus through the sheet transporting path,
The paper discharge device is
A sheet introducing section for introducing the sheet discharged from the image forming apparatus,
A paper transport unit that has a paper transport path and transports the paper along the paper transport path;
A single paper ejection tray on which the paper ejected from the paper conveyance path is placed;
A paper detection unit that detects whether or not paper is present on the paper ejection tray,
The image forming apparatus,
An image forming unit that forms an image on the sheet,
A paper transport unit that has a paper transport path and transports the paper along the paper transport path;
When the occurrence of a paper jam is detected in the paper conveyance path of any one of the paper feeding device, the image forming device, and the paper ejection device, the paper caused by the jam causing the paper jam is removed, and then the paper conveyance is performed. Automatically purges the remaining paper remaining in the path and discharges it to the outside, and forms the image that was to be formed on the jam-induced paper and the other paper on the newly supplied paper. A control unit for controlling recovery printing to be performed,
The control unit of the image forming system,
When paper is present on the paper discharge tray at the start of the automatic purge, the paper conveyance is temporarily stopped after the automatic purge is performed, and the other paper discharged onto the paper discharge tray by the automatic purge. While the recovery-printed paper is controlled to be ejected onto the paper ejection tray after the paper is removed,
If there is no paper in the discharge tray at the start of the automatic purge, the other paper discharged onto the discharge tray by the automatic purge is not stopped without stopping the paper conveyance after the automatic purge is performed. An image forming system that controls so that a sheet printed by partitioning and recovery printing is discharged onto the sheet discharge tray.